beoman

request for comments/advice on a practice

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hello all. i started doing a practice that i didn't read about. so far i'm just winging it and doing what feels good, but it might be informative to have it put into a greater context.

 

i can do this thing i got out of "Opening the Energy Gates of the Body". the idea is to do a body scan from above the top of your head going down to below your toes. you're supposed to move your attention down your body like a plane, just noticing any blockages or tension or any sensation really along the way, only moving down not up (though i find it doesn't matter now). you're supposed to use this to identify energy spots and dissolve them but i haven't gotten that far.

 

if i do it correctly, and i'm getting better at it, when i go down to my ankle, then the sole of my foot, then the tip of the foot, then the toes, then past the toes about a foot into the ground - it's a definite spot that i can intuitively reach - then i feel this great peaceful downward flow over my entire body. basically it feels like all my energy is draining downwards, except i'm not being depleted - just a really peaceful affective well-being is left in its place. if i focus on that spot 1 foot beneath me then the motion is increased. there's a tendency to link it up with a spot above your head - and i wonder if they're similar - but i think you have to not do that.

 

i started doing goenka-style body scanning and that seems to have a similar effect, though maybe more thorough cause you go over your entire body in more detail. i dont get the draining motion, but i do get the affective well-being, and if i focus on the bottom then i can go from that to the draining, too. body scanning is: scan the body, going in this order (my personal order): head, chest, left arm down and up, right arm down and up, mid-body, left hip, right hip, left leg down and up, bottom body, right leg down and up, mid-body, chest, right arm down and up, left arm down and up, neck, back of head, top of head, face, rinse + repeat. scan means to put your attention there and intending ONLY TO WATCH, and not do anything else, try to feel a sensation on that particular part of the body. as soon as any sensation is felt there, move on.

 

what ends up happening is i feel little gaps, and i try to put my attention there, and then it feels the gap is released and i feel a sensation there, then i move on. so it seems like im releasig energy blockages perhaps?

 

the more i do body scanning in one session, the deeper this sense of affective relaxation gets. when i scan through one time, i'll notice gaps that i'll put my attention on until i get a sensation there, which then feels like my body is filled in with those sensations. the next time through, the thing that i filled in now seems like a coarse gap, and i can look even deeper to fill in more sensations.

 

as i do this i become overwhelmed by this really heady affective relaxation. it's weird.. it's not blissful, really, though it seems intoxicating in a similar way. it's not like all body-affect is draining a way to leave none behind, it's like this 'relaxed'-affect is filling in. but as i body scan more i almost get restless and impatient as it feels like i can't take it anymore.. but at the same time there's an interest in filling it in more to see what happens.

 

i think it would be better to feel this way than to feel fearful and anxious. seems like if i stabilize in it it would be easier to get felicitous/have it all disappear (which is the goal of PCE practice, see here).

 

anyone else have any experience with this? it's like all the negative affect is just going away to a nothing-spot. is it healthy/dangerous? =P.

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Baoman...

What you are doing was really meditation. Your focus on different parts of the body was called 意守(yi4 shou3) by the ancient Taoists. This is like a healing process for a damaged tissue in the body. The ancient Taoist knew how to heal themselves by focusing on the damaged area and using Chi Kung. If you can do abdominal breathing, then you would be actually doing sitting meditation or zazen and you'll feel much better. Indeed, your focus on different parts of the body will help you to control your muscle movements and increases your reflexes.

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His book the water method gives more detail on the practice your doing. Confronting negativity is part of the cleansing process, there are members of this forum whom have had amazing results with this method.

 

IMO it is a very good practice.

 

-Good shit.

 

http://www.amazon.com/Relaxing-into-Your-Being-Meditation/dp/1556434073/ref=pd_sim_b_3

Edited by OldGreen

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Hi beoman, :)

 

Scanning was one of my first practices. Your experience sounds similar to mine. I'd say you're doing well. :D Two additional qualities you could consider cultivating: patience and calm.

 

It appears you have allowed a feeling of flow in the body with your proper and consistent sinking practice. Remember Bruce Frantzis' admonishment: Only go to 70% of your capacity. If you go too far or too fast, you may be overwhelmed by these new sensations (even if it is only a bit). You may want to allow yourself some extra time after your formal scanning practice to simply BE with any sensations, with no specific goal TO DO anything.

 

The cultivation of patience has been a wonderful ally in my own dissolving practice.

 

Best to you in your practices. :)

hey rainbow_vein,

 

thanks for the tips! i believe you're correct on all your points: i feel a bit woozy if i keep doing it, so seems like i should not push very hard.

 

when stuff is happening i try to use it to my advantage immediately, like 'oo now i can go and solve THIS problem i used to have' and i start doing that. what actually helps a lot if that the scanning method i use, the goenka, emphasizes to pick an order on the body and stick with it, not lingering on any point once you have experienced a sensation there. having that resolve forces me to keep going and i never regret it (as more interesting/beneficial stuff happens that i wouldn't have thought of).

 

i realized this already but i'll emphasize it even more now that you mention it.

 

thanks again! =).

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I just finished a Goenka retreat and one of the discourses advised us to occasionally mix up our order to keep the mind from going restless and getting attached/generating expectations. With enough practice at this style, you can eventually scan in a plane, and quite quickly, speeding it up to the point of flashing down your body many times per second, though this requires a great deal of practice, deep samadhi, and incredibly high qi. Stick with it!

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Can anyone recommend any books on the Goenka technique? I understand it is scanning your body but is there any method or path which is advised to take. I have done a fair bit of the BK Frantzis dissolving method of working with the body but for my crazy mind I was trying too hard to make things happen which just added stress, so the Goenka sounds more suitable.

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Can anyone recommend any books on the Goenka technique? I understand it is scanning your body but is there any method or path which is advised to take. I have done a fair bit of the BK Frantzis dissolving method of working with the body but for my crazy mind I was trying too hard to make things happen which just added stress, so the Goenka sounds more suitable.

 

if y'all are going on Goenka retreats i really recommend you read Mastering the Core Teachings of Buddha, as well as this guide on how to get stream entry during a goenka retreat: http://thehamiltonproject.blogspot.com/2010/11/going-for-stream-entry-on-goenka-10-day.html . that way you can actually get stream entry - it's pretty useful! i think the biggest thing preventing goenka people from getting stream entry is lack of realization of how possible it really is.

Edited by beoman

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what ends up happening is i feel little gaps, and i try to put my attention there, and then it feels the gap is released and i feel a sensation there, then i move on. so it seems like im releasig energy blockages perhaps?

 

the more i do body scanning in one session, the deeper this sense of affective relaxation gets. when i scan through one time, i'll notice gaps that i'll put my attention on until i get a sensation there, which then feels like my body is filled in with those sensations. the next time through, the thing that i filled in now seems like a coarse gap, and i can look even deeper to fill in more sensations.

 

as i do this i become overwhelmed by this really heady affective relaxation. it's weird.. it's not blissful, really, though it seems intoxicating in a similar way. it's not like all body-affect is draining a way to leave none behind, it's like this 'relaxed'-affect is filling in. but as i body scan more i almost get restless and impatient as it feels like i can't take it anymore.. but at the same time there's an interest in filling it in more to see what happens.

Hi Beoman, your practice sounds great.

 

My practice began around spontaneous body scanning, as well, without a technique. I don't check things systematically, but allow my own body to lead my attention to where my body wants it. IME, the body has systems (like pain) that are designed to call the attention to it. As you say, all I need to do is listen, not alter, what's happening, and there is a great deal of release.

 

In fact, my experience is that when I put my attention where my body calls it, then my body tends to start moving on its own. This first took the form of stretching, but not the kind of stretching that is taught in the West. Rather than me choosing some action, to put a stress across a muscle, I just pay attention, and my body re-arranges itself in a way that cools down the tension/spasm, and finds a path of ease through the muscle fiber.

 

I like what you say about the "gaps". There is a great metaphor of the meat cutter "slicing between the tendons", that is: using the least effort to cut the meat, by using the anatomy as the guide. The same metaphor, IME, works for scanning and stretching: listen to how the muscles interact, and let that immediate information be your guide (rather than some concept). The gap may be pointing to the path of least resistance.

 

IME, there is a different kind of "gap" in parts of my body that I have neglected. They are areas in which I don't have much coherent feedback, when I put my attention there. Just as some areas of my body are bound by habitual tension (yang neurosis), so also related areas are atrophied (yin neurosis), because the tense areas have thrown off the natural balance. Those "unintelligent" areas are well served, not only by scan and stretch, but also by activation of exercise. They need blood flow, nerve responsiveness, and tissue repair.

 

The practice that has served me best (along with stretch) has been authentic dance. Dance (as I use the word) is not performance, or trying to accomplish something. Instead, it is purely an invitation to my body, to move exactly the way it wants to move. In particular, I was led by my body into hand-balancing, and then floor-work (like capoeira and breakdancing), as my body wanted to explore, stretch, and move in all the possible vectors. The 360 degree possibilities of dance are almost unmatched, in other activities.

 

I find that my body is much more wise, about how to heal and unwind itself, than I (my ego) could ever be. So I let it take the lead, in scanning, dissolving and enervating tissue, and in the last 10 years, my body has changed dramatically for the better in its function, strength, healing, intercommunication, and flexibility.

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